May 8, 2025
Sarah Jackson Abedelal was due to be sentenced for orchestrating an overtime scheme
Sarah Jackson Abedelal, a former principal at a Chicago elementary school, was found dead on May 6, the day she was to sentenced for embezzling nearly $300,00 from the Chicago Public School System, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Abedelal, 61, pleaded guilty in 2022 to orchestrating a seven-year scheme to defraud CPS. Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence exceeding three years for the 10-count indictment.
The former Brennemann Elementary School principal’s sentencing hearing was initially set for May 6, 10:30 a.m. but was postponed when she didn’t appear.
She was pronounced dead at 4:05 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, and was discovered at an address in the 19100 block of Pine Drive in Country Club Hills, The Chicago Tribune reports. The cause and manner of death are under investigation.
In conversations with her attorneys, Abedelal expressed remorse for her actions. “I screwed up at Brennemann,” she said, noting that the school “saved my life.”
Jonathan Bedi, Abedelal’s attorney, described her as someone who had “positively impacted the educational journeys of hundreds of students.”
He added, “This single chapter did not define her.” Unfortunately, Abedelal’s deeds may be hard to forget.
In 2021, she was charged with wire fraud.
“Abedelal told certain school employees that she would authorize overtime pay for hours the employees would not be required to work, and she directed them to then deliver the proceeds of the unearned overtime to Abedelal or another individual, the indictment states,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement following the 2021 indictment.
Abedelal told her workers the money would be used for school expenses that the district wouldn’t cover. Later, she admitted the “vast majority” of the more than $250,000 she secured through this scheme went toward personal expenses.
A separate scheme involving fake purchase orders and invoices for school supplies steered iPhones, iPads and more than $30,000 in gift cards Abedelal’s way. Prosecutors said she used the gift cards to buy such luxuries as a Tiffany’s bracelet, Jimmy Choo shoes, and perfume.
In addition, prosecutors claimed that Abedelal enlisted employees who feared her to pull off the scheme. One staffer allegedly chauffeured her around town, took her shopping during school hours, and cleaned her house.
Abedelal faced 10 counts of wire fraud due to the overtime scheme. Each count carried up to 20 years in federal prison.
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